Kevin Bushweller is an award-winning assistant managing editor for edweek.org and executive editor of Education Week's Digital Directions; Katie Ash is a reporter-researcher for Education Week. Kevin and Katie are particularly interested in tackling the question: What works, and what doesn't work, to motivate students to do better in school?

Bridging Classroom and Workforce Lessons

I was glad to see in the July 31 Baltimore Sun that even in a time when school districts and local governments are strapped for cash, some programs are still deemed important enough to warrant continued funding. Baltimore's YouthWorks program, which employs thousands of students during the summer, received about $300,000 from the state government in funding this year, which contributed to the program finding work for about 6,500 students--up from 5,400 last year, says the article.

This program not only boosts the workforce in Baltimore, but also exposes teens to a myriad of careers and allows them to see their education at work first hand. That experience is instrumental in helping students draw connections between what they learn in school and the "real world." Sounds like a pretty constructive way to spend a summer, in my opinion.